12 Days of Cooking: Double Chocolate and Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

I have a cooking confession to make: I am really bad at making cookies. I really don't know why. It's not like they're the hardest things to make, but I think I've made two or three successful batches of cookies in my life. The rest have been disasters. It's like some kind of mental block. And it's not for lack of trying, believe me.

Previous cookie attempts have turned out burnt, undercooked, far too brittle, too cake-like, and too spread-out. So you can understand my nerves when I decided to include a cookie recipe in 12 days of cooking. But... they were a triumph!!! It's pathetic that I'm so happy about this, when 5 year old kids churn out amazing cookies all the time. However, this is a personal achievement so allow me to bask in warm glow of the oven for a while.

This recipe, adapted from this one from Bon Appetit, is kind of different from previous cookie recipes I've attempted. It seems like it's basically a cake recipe, but with less egg and baking soda instead of baking powder. But since it worked for me, I'm going to try using it with different flavour configurations.

Anyway, on to the cookie. It's basically an oatmeal cookie with dark and white chocolate and cranberries. I remember being surprised that the recipe called for fresh cranberries rather than dried, but they really worked. They added tartness to the sweetness of the chocolate, and turned really fudgey in texture in the oven. But, I guess if you don't have fresh or frozen cranberries, dried ones will work fine. I'd probably reduce the amount of sugar a little though.